NHS Doctors refused evacuation from Sudan by British Government - DISGUSTING!

[Raggletagglegypsy]

Shameful and shocking that NHS doctors should be turned away from evacuation flights from Sudan, simply because they have British residency, but are not British nationals. Just watching Newsnight on catchup and I was so enraged that I couldn't keep watching. I really hope that this matter has been put right since Newsnight aired yesterday. A medic who served the British people at Manchester Royal Infirmary through the pandemic was escorted out of the airport where he had arrived for evacuation, wanting to return to his work as a registrar. There are apparently over 20 doctors known to be in a similar position (having visited families for Eid - many with young children). The doctor who was interviewed described the situation as "disappointing" - I would use stronger vocabulary.
WE SHOULD ALL BE RAISING THIS WITH OUR MPs TODAY!

absolutely

Erm this looks very much like backtracking, Your entire OP was on the premise of 'NHS doctors, banging on about how one medic had 'served the British people'.
You were clearly enraged because they were doctors, and not because they're residents.

By the way all this 'heroism and service' doesn't benefit doctors. It's the other way around. Because people see it as such a noble profession of service any inkling of wanting better pay, working conditions etc is seen as vile and money-grabbing. The majority of my medic families members would far rather it be seen as just another profession - that's compensated accordingly with proper working environment, rota, leave entitlement etc.

You would be repatriating them to where they are domiciled, where they plug much needed gaps in a desperate NHS situation and where they pay taxes. I am bothered by humans in general, not specifically doctors, but I find the hypocrisy of them being good enough to serve (and yes, serve is what it is) our general public but not good enough to REPATRIATE to the country that has adopted them shocking. Just a question, should you need emergency life saving surgery, would they be 'British' enough to do it?

Perfectly put (I wish I could have said it as well!).

I think it’s just practical in an emergency situation. You have a british passport that can be verified quickly, on you get. You have residency papers that take longer to verify then you should be put on a secondary list. The UK government has a first obligation to British citizens (I imagine a fair few getting on those planes will also be ethnically sudanese, I don’t imagine they are sorting them on the basis on colour).

The 'hoops' are the same regardless of skin colour for a non-refugee visa. Staying the requisite number of years.

Residents have BRPs. Can be easily verified. Bollocks it is not because of colour.

But for how long until they beggar off again? I'd rather have committed doctors who want to live and work in the UK for the long term. Not those who are happy to use the NHS when it suits them and clear off abroad for higher wages/lower taxes when it suits them.

People with entry clearance to reside/work in UK should be eligible for evacuation (though if not British nationals, they might be lower in the prioritisation for seats)

I really don't know what's going on here

I completely agree. As a parent id be horrified if my child was having to take risks in their occupation because those of another buggered off on holiday.

@user1497207191
no one can guarantee their commitment to the UK, not even you
we need doctors from all over the world. we would be lost without them

Why do you think they won't live in the UK? Because they don't have British passports yet? Do you know how long and complicated the process is to get a British passport if you are BAME?

Again, use of emotive language used to obscure practical questions.
'Serve' - so they're not doing paid jobs? Maybe it's a better life than in Sudan, so it's actually benefitting them? I use 'serve' to mean at one's own expense.
'Adopted' them? How do you know that they're not here for the short term. Would you also feel the same for an investment banker, ballet dancer or anybody else here for the same amount of time?

It's common for doctors to complete short-term training, residency etc in various countries. They then move on. 'Short-term' could mean a few years.

The way you put it they have given up everything to come to the UK, built lives families etc etc. Them being DOCTORS doesn't make that true.

Please point out which route exactly, and where?
It's very easy to get a British passport. Easier compared to most other EU countries, and many others including my own. That's why many people want to come here.

I'm BAME myself. Looking at moving thanks to Brexit but unless I'm a millionaire no other country is much easier.

The truth is that they probably don't beggar off again and even if they did, they are plugging the gap and keeping people alive in the meantime. Great what you would rather have but the reality is that our 'home grown' doctors are leaving the NHS in large numbers, either to go to Australia or NZ, where they are paid a lot more to work in a far less stressful environment. Or they are leaving the profession completely because their employment conditions are so dire. Do you know just how many open vacancies there are in the NHS at the moment? So what is it, do you settle for the 'foreign' doctors or do you just go without treatment? Or maybe we could just retrain gold old British plumbers in gynae.

How do you know that they are here for the short term? Actually, you don't. Given the entire NHS is made up of immigrants who have stayed.

But I get it. British born doctors serve. Brown and black people are here.to feather their own nests and fly out as soon as they get a chance.

@CamablancaNo, not backtracking - just acknowledging that my original post was narrowly focused (and worthy of people pointing out that the fundamental principles could be expanded to apply to other situations!).
As an aside, I thought that the main limiting factor in this evacuation was the difficulty of people getting themselves safely to the airport north of Sudan, rather than the capacity to airlift them thereafter) - so, to what extent is it about choosing between nationality versus residency rights anyway?

Its the UK Govt that has said UK Passport Holders ONLY.

I don’t think they have said that. Otherwise the UK wouldn’t be rescuing Australians, Canadians, US citizens and others.

“People with entry clearance to reside/work in UK should be eligible for evacuation (though if not British nationals, they might be lower in the prioritisation for seats)”

OK so if you set that precedent do you expect the government to follow this policy and precedent forever more, every time there is a war somewhere? What is a war? What is a sudden crisis? What scale does it need to have? How will it be defined?

Thank you for bringing this up @CarolSlinger . It's easy to forget that this is putting a lot of servicemen and women at risk. For people who often chose to go back there on a holiday, no less. Thank your son for what he is doing.

Sorry, don't agree, as someone on a Tier 2 skills visa. People want to come here because English is a link factor across the globe.

^ this

You get the UK nationals on first and fill any empty seats on a flight from a standby list of those with the right to reside/work in the UK without a UK passport. Even if you only get them to Akrotiri and work out what to do with them later.

PS
Link for anyone unfamiliar with the UK connections to Sudan and why we have a historic responsibility to Sudan and the Sudanese people.

Exactly!
@CharlotteRumpling you're missing the point.
This is not about skin colour, black, brown whatever. The majority of British passport holders in Sudan who aren't diplomatic staff aren't white anyway. So you trying to stir the pot is irrelevant.

The point is - using RESIDENCY to establish order of rescue is perfectly valid. Not profession. So binman, NHS doctor, no difference.

Once we have agreed on that, which 'sort' of residency is another question altogether. Permanent residents? Work visas? Student visas? Spouse visas?

Again, the main point here is that you can't use people's professions. Then you open the floodgates.

Well I'm also on a Tier 2 visa and I disagree.
But neither of us will win this, eh, because it's all anecdotal evidence? You say, I say, we are not statisticians who have conducted a survey of all the visa holders to get their opinion,

Stick to the facts. You have been complaining about how hard it is for BAME to get a passport but that's due to nationality. Not skin colour. Because the UK was in the EU.

That's not setting a new precent, it's exactly the current policy.

That is why I think something is going wrong here.